Africa-Press – Mauritius. The newly appointed International Organization for Migration (IOM) Regional Director for Southern Africa, Mr Ashraf El Nour, called on the Prime Minister, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, this morning, at the New Treasury Building, in Port Louis.
In a statement after the meeting, Mr Ashraf El Nour highlighted that the meeting was an excellent opportunity to reflect on the ongoing cooperation that Mauritius and IOM have in the field of migration and development.
The foundational basis for this cooperation, he underlined, are well established since the adoption of the migration and development plan by the Government of Mauritius in 2018. The Regional Director further stressed that since then, the IOM and the Government of Mauritius have been working together on three different tracks.
These are: Skills Development and current Transfer which is important for the country to diversify the sources of labour and for expertise within the country; Migration Data Management which is currently being revised to set up databases that would allow inter-ministerial work on migration to be conducted; and Diaspora Engagement which comprises plans of action which need to be developed so as migration can be seen as the builder of cooperation within the region.
Mr Ashraf El Nour also indicated that the cooperation with the Government of Mauritius is going on very well as the IOM is well established locally due to the proximity that the IOM has with the Prime Minister’s Office, which is providing a home for migration within the country.
“We are enjoying close support and engagement with the Government and hope to continue to deliver good service as regards the migration field,” he concluded.
Ashraf El Nour is the Permanent Observer of the IOM to the United Nations. Mr El Nour began his career in 1988 at CARE International, serving as an Assistant Programme Coordinator for three years.
In 1991, he went on to join IOM, first as Coordinator for Northern Iraq until 1993 and then as their Coordinator of Operations in Mozambique until 1995.
Moving to the agency’s headquarters in Geneva, he worked as Programme Coordinator for Migration for Development and Technical Cooperation until 1998, when he became Regional Adviser for Africa and the Middle East until 2001.
After working as Senior Recovery Adviser at the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Geneva-based Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery, Mr El Nour returned to IOM as Special Assistant with the Office of the Director General from 2006 to 2007.
He then served in Kenya as Regional Representative for East and Central Africa, from 2007 to 2012, and as Regional Director for East and Horn of Africa from 2013.
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